Paper: Turkey not positive on Armenia border after White House petition on Syrian Armenian refugees

Turkey is not positive about opening its land border with Armenia to facilitate Syrian-Armenians’ entrance to the country, as suggested by a petition on the White House’s official website.

Turkey is providing all kinds of facilities for the transfer of humanitarian aid sent from Armenia to Armenians living in Syria, Selcuk Unal, the spokesman for the Turkish Foreign Ministry, said yesterday in a written statement, reports Hurriyet Daily News.

The signature collection campaign started on the White House’s website earlier this month for Turkey’s unconditional opening of the border with Armenia for the Syrian refugees.

“Turkey will determine the content, method and conditions of the steps on its own with regard to the demands that may come on humanitarian issues,” said the Turkish Foreign Ministry, according to the paper.

Turkey assists people “without making distinction in terms of religion, language, race and ethnic origin as a natural consequence of the understanding of conscience inherited from ancestors,” said the statement. The ministry recalled that Turkey was a prominent country extending aid to Armenia after earthquakes. Moreover, it said, it facilitated delivering of humanitarian assistance to Armenians in Syria.

Turkey shelters more than 150,000 people with no distinction on the basis of religion, language, race and ethnic origin, the statement said, adding that many Armenians had fled from Syria and arrived in Armenia through Turkey.

The campaign on the White House’s website has political purposes rather than reflecting realities on the ground, Hurriyet Daily News quoted an unnamed Turkish official as saying.